Two Mailed Packages Set Off Smoke in Maryland Offices

No serious injuries reported
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Jan 6, 2011 1:34 PM CST
Two Packages Explode in Maryland State Buildings
A file photo with the Dome of the Maryland State House in the background.   (AP Photo/Rob Carr)

Two packages sent to state government buildings 20 miles apart released smoke and odors when they were opened today, but no one was seriously injured, officials said. State officials initially said the packages exploded, but later said there were no blasts. One package was opened this afternoon at the Jeffrey Building on Francis Street in downtown Annapolis and another at the Maryland Department of Transportation building in Hanover.

State police spokesman Greg Shipley said mailrooms at state offices across Maryland were being quarantined until it could be determined if any other packages had been sent. Shipley said the packages were small, about the size of a book. "In both instances when the small packages were opened, there was a dissemination of smoke and a smell, that's the best description we have right now," he said. (More Maryland stories.)

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